A Crazy Number of Couples Are Divorcing Over Video Games
Video games are now at the top of popular leisure activities among adults and kids. They have been proven to positively impact the ability to concentrate and brain activity. The misuse of video games will hurt your life. Thus, divorce rates over video games are getting higher these days. Explore the threats of video game misuse and find the best way out if you experience similar hurdles in your family.
Video Games Statistics
With many American kids and adults spending their free time over video gaming, the following statistics are reported:
- 65% of American grown-ups play video games;
- The average age of video gamers is 33;
- Men play video games more often than women;
- 57% of parents play together with their children regularly;
- At least 5% of divorcees state video gaming is the leading cause of their marriage failure.
According to several surveys and research on video gaming and family relationships, gaming has generally favorable effects on families unless any members spend too much time playing and/or suffer from addiction.
Video Games-Related Marriage Issues
When gamers cannot control their involvement, various marital issues arise. As a result, many couples decide to file for divorce in Louisiana online rather than trying to cope with the trouble. Here are some of the common marriage issues the spouses of gamers face:
- Lack of socialization—Being involved in gaming and mainly communicating only with other gamers online, a spouse loses the need to socialize with family and friends and eventually breaks connections.
- No relationship commitment—every relationship requires energy and time investments to be developed healthily. A spouse-gamer’s lack of commitment and interest leads to various marital complications.
- Lost connection with children – in addition to lost connection with a partner, an intensive video gaming habit causes a parent to ruin relationships with their children. Kids are often bullied and lack attention and support from parents who play video games too much.
- Financial troubles – many video and online games require financial investments. They won’t harm your family budget until you can control your spending on the hobby. Plus, gamers often lose count of time, which may harm their career and lead to unemployment. In both cases, video gaming can result in families facing severe financial hurdles.
- Video game addiction – all the above adverse effects and even more may be the aftermath of a spouse getting addicted to video gaming. A gaming addict will ruin their own life and harm people around them, including family and friends. So, a divorce is a typical result of such a situation.
Once you cross the line of video gaming turning from a hobby to a bad habit and addiction, expect your quality of life to decrease and your family relationships to worsen in the end.
Possible Ways Out
Although many couples who face gaming addiction ruining their relationships choose divorce as the best suitable solution, there are more peaceful ways out:
- Visit specialists – gaming addiction is a serious problem. If it goes too far, the best variant is to cooperate with the relevant specialists. Visit the addict center, consult a therapist, and solve your marital misunderstandings with a family counselor. And you can give your marriage another chance and save your family from disaster.
- Create a healthy balance – video gaming can be combined with a happy marriage if you handle your hobby efficiently. This means that you ought to find a healthy balance between your daily duties, family relationships, and video gaming. Don’t sacrifice any part of your life for video gaming. Instead, optimize your daily schedule to commit to your marriage and hobby without complications.
- Play together—Another great idea to prevent marital issues is to share your interest in video games with your spouse and/or kids. Play with your partner, spend the weekend leisurely with your children playing family video games, and find the genres and games interesting for everyone. This way, you will spend quality time with your children and spouse and play your beloved games.
All in all, video games cannot be stated as either useful or harmful activities for your family. The key point is your attitude to them. As long as you can manage your level of involvement in gaming and control your playing habits, it can benefit your family. Instead of getting divorced over video games, you can bring your spouse and kids together and have a great free time by playing together.